How Important is Having an "Objective" on Your Resume?

Do you even need one once you get established? I'm an executive now and it just seems silly to put something like "I want to leverage my skills and experience to blahblahblah". I've always thought that "Objective" was the most useless part of the resume and I've usually skipped it when reviewing them.

I had an interview for a job .. turns out I forgot to update the objective I had, it was 100% irrelevant to the job I was interviewing for. Didn't get the job, and had a good nervous laugh during the interview.

The objective is to get the job you're applying for (in other words, don't list one on your resume). I imagine it would be hard to actually list an objective without implying one of two things: under qualified, or that you only intend to stay in the position you're applying for for a short amount of time before advancing. If your objective contains too many "want to learns," you'll sound under qualified. If it's too ambitious it will sound as though you won't be happy staying in the position for as long as they'd probably like you to.

I'm going to say that it depends. If someone is recruiting you I think it's useless. If you're applying for a specific job I think a short statement of, "To get this job" type thing is a good idea. The main reason I think this is that places are often making multiple hires so it just makes sure you are getting considered for the job you feel best matches you.

^ not always true. i have had recruiters tell me when they're scanning resumes if they see an independent school (there are about 10 of them in my city) the resume immediately gets put in the 'interview' pile.
And objectives are meant for the cover letter, which of course should be included for any job you apply to (at least in my industry).

^ not always true. i have had recruiters tell me when they're scanning resumes if they see an independent school (there are about 10 of them in my city) the resume immediately gets put in the 'interview' pile.